(This is No. 4 of the top 10 stories of the year as voted on by newsroom staff.)

By ED RUNYAN

Staff writer

YOUNGSTOWN — The retirement of Paul Gains as Mahoning County Prosecutor in November provided him with an opportunity to discuss his legacy after 26 years in one of the most important public positions in the county — a position that was tarnished by the criminal acts of his predecessor, James Philomena.

Gains, 71, formally announced his retirement at his office Nov. 19 during a news conference, where he talked about the years spent as one of the county’s most important faces and voices of law and order and the county’s top civil lawyer.

His story is a dramatic one in a town that suffered the nickname Crimetown USA starting in the 1960s because of mob-related killings.

Gains himself was shot by Mark Batcho in a mob hit Dec. 24, 1996, that also involved three other men working for Youngstown mob leader Lenny Strollo, days before Gains was to take office as prosecutor. The motive was to prevent Gains from taking office because Strollo was unable to control Gains, federal prosecutors said, according to Vindicator files. Gains survived when Batcho’s gun jammed after Batcho fired it into Gains at Gains’ home.

Batcho and the three three others were convicted and sent to prison. Strollo cooperated with authorities, leading to indictments of public officials and a plea deal for 10 to 12 years in prison.

Gains said at his news conference last month that the investigations that followed his shooting led to the prosecutions of 70 people, including his predecessor, the late Philomena, “who was fixing cases,” and “numerous attorneys, judges, law enforcement officers, contractors and many others.”

Philomena pleaded guilty in 1999 to racketeering charges in the period from 1989 to 1997 and was sentenced to four years in federal prison. He then also pleaded guilty to state charges in 2001 of three counts of bribery and one count of perjury in connection with fixing cases while in office.

Before Gains sought the office, he approached other people he thought would be a good prosecutor — but none of them would seek office, Gains told reporters.

“I felt somebody had to do something. That, I would hope, would be my legacy,” Gains said.

“I tore the for-sale sign down from the prosecutor’s office, and I hired extremely honest and competent assistant prosecutors in the criminal division,” Gains said.

NOW IN CHARGE

After Gains made his retirement, effective Dec. 1, official, discussion turned to filling that role. Last month, the county commissioners chose Gina DeGenova, a 17-year assistant prosecutor. She will fill the position on an interim basis until the Mahoning County Democratic Party Central Committee selects someone to fill the final two years of Gains’ four-year term through 2024.

The committee will vote Jan. 7 on who will fill the unexpired term.

DeGenova is one of two people who have expressed an interest. The other is Brad Gessner, a former Mahoning County assistant prosecutor who has worked as an assistant Summit County assistant prosecutor since 2005. Those two and defense attorney Lynn Maro applied to the county commissioners asking to be appointed to the interim position.

Gains had moved DeGenova into the position of chief assistant prosecutor about 20 months ago. She has shared that position with longtime chief assistant prosecutor Lynette Stratford since then.

Gains also appointed DeGenova to be public information officer at that time. In that role, DeGenova had made herself available to help news media cover the prosecutor’s office. She also increased the prosecutor’s office’s presence on social media and published newsletters publicizing the work of the prosecutor’s office.

CIVIL BATTLE

That effort also coincided with a public battle between Gains and a former assistant prosecutor, Martin Desmond, who challenged Gains for the job as county prosecutor but lost in the general election in November 2020.

At the same time, Desmond had a pending civil suit and Ohio Personal Board of Review case against Gains over Gains firing Desmond in 2017.

The suit and SPBR litigation were settled in April, with the county commissioners approving a $550,000 payout to Desmond.

DeGenova has been best known for her work in the civil division of the prosecutor’s office, though she has participated in the courtroom in recent years in several high-profile criminal cases, such as the aggravated murder case involving Kimonie Bryant, who is charged with aggravated murder in the death of 4-year-old Rowan Sweeney of Struthers.

She also participated in hearings involving a motion by defense attorney David Betras when Betras asked for sanctions against the prosecutor’s office over evidence not turned over to the defense in a timely manner in the aggravated murder case involving defendant Lavontae Knight.

When the commissioners announced they had chosen DeGenova as interim prosecutor, they praised her for her legal counsel to the commissioners office and to other county and township officials.

OAKHILL CASE

DeGenova herself mentioned her role as chief legal counsel for the sheriff’s office since 2013, and Gains mentioned her important role in defending the lawsuit the Cafaro Co.-owned Ohio Valley Mall filed against the county commissioners for purchasing the former Southside Medical Center to house its county Department of Job and Family Services.

The county won the suit, which also led to an investigation of several officials’ roles in opposing the purchase of the former hospital, now known as the county’s Oakhill office building on Oak Hill Avenue.

The investigation led to the convictions of two prominent elected officials — former Youngstown mayor and former county commissioner John A. McNally and former county Auditor Michael Sciortino, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges, according to The Vindicator archives.

When DeGenova was asked about Youngstown’s history with corruption and how she will address such issues, she said, “Paul Gains cleaned up, and his hard work over the last 25 years, I would say, you’ve … got to be strong, you’ve got to be honest. You have to have integrity, and you’ve got to do the right thing.”

Here are the top 10 stories of 2022 by editors of The Vindicator so far. A new story will be revealed daily until New Year’s Day.

10. YSU’s Tressel has rough final year.

9. Chill Can saga continues in Youngstown.

8. Gunfire rings out in very public places in 2022.

7. Y-Live draws big crowd at new home.

6. Youngstown pivots on ambulance service.

5. Trumbull commissioners continue to clash in 2002.

4. Gains calls it quits after 26 years.